Platinum Chronicles
by The Paper Dragon
Summary: Join young Sasake on her journey through the vast Sinnoh region as she deals with crazy rivals, an over-bearing, over-shadowing sister and, of coarse, the infamous Team Galactic. First ever fan fic... Follows Pokemon Platinum
1. 000: Prologue

**(A/N: Hello all, this is my very first fan fiction _ever_****, so I'm a bit nervous... Either way, I thought I'd just mention a few other things here. Firstly, this work is based on the Pokemon Platinum game. I know I didn't use the generally accepted names for these in-game characters... but I just got kind of partial to these names while playing the game... so here's a quick reference so there isn't any confusion.... Also, I used my characters from the previous Pokemon Diamond I had as their siblings... just to mix things up a bit...**

**Sasake= Main female playable character/Rowan's assistant**

**Kaori= Main male playable character/Rowan's assistant**

**Shuzo= Rival**

**Hikari= Main female playable character from Diamond/Rowan's assistant**

**Taji= Rival from Diamond**

**Also, in this little fan fiction the children don't usually leave on their journeys till they're 14-15 years old.)**

* * *

Platinum Chronicles:

_Prologue_

* * *

"It all comes down to this!" a very load and brightly clad announcer was shouting through the TV screen as an enthralled audience roared it's excitement. A young girl was seated gently on the edge of her bed, watching the broadcasted battle play out, her usually bored eyes flickering with a rare hint of interest. Her dark hair hung in a messy mop down to the small of her back; she had her hands loosely placed in her lap, her feet hanging just above the carpet floor of her bedroom as she stared at the screen.

"It's Champion Cynthia's garchomp against the challenger, Hikari's, umbreon!" the announcer shouted again, the audience now quiet with heated anticipation. The young girl watched as the dark-haired challenger and black-clad champion faced off.

"Heh, you're pretty good… I haven't been backed into a corner like this in a long time…" The champion muttered as she looked over her pokemon, intelligent eyes examining her situation carefully. Hikari had torn through her first five pokemon, while Cynthia herself had only managed to ware down three of her opponent's pokemon. Of coarse, her last pokemon, being her powerhouse, had defeated two of Hikari's pokemon, forcing the pink-clad girl to release her final pokemon, which had been damaged in the beginning of the battle against Cynthia's spiritomb. Garchomp was breathing heavily, but, still seemed to have half it's health left, the Umbreon, on the other hand, was barely hanging on with less than a quarter of its HP left. The next attack would certainly decide the battle. Hikari didn't respond to the Champion's comment, she simply furrowed her brow and clenched her fists, racking her brain for some sort of strategy. The teen's battle strategy was normally simply to completely overpower her opponents; but it seemed she'd met her match in the blonde champion.

"Umbreon, use shadow ball once more!" Hikari ordered her pokemon, the tired umbreon obediently readied the attack, but, before it could even finish forming the ghost-type attack Cynthia cut in. "Garchomp! Finish this with giga-". Before the champion could even finish her command the battle had flickered off into oblivion. The young girl held the TV's remote in her small hand, slowly lowering it back to her side. She knew the outcome of this battle, there was no way her sister could pull this one off…

She flopped onto her back and stared up at the dull white ceiling, listening to her mother's loud protests from downstairs as the battle came to a close. Her face was blank and her eyes were back to their usual lifeless state.

"You can do it… o-nee-chan…"

* * *

_Three years later…_

* * *

It was a cool, yet sunny, mid-spring afternoon in the small town of Twinleaf. The weak rays of golden sunshine kissed two young dark-haired girls as they filed out the door of the fair-sized home they shared with their mother. Despite the obvious age difference, the teens looked remarkably similar; both had the same soft features, dark-hair, and true blue eyes. The eldest girl was currently shuffling through the contents in her yellow, cylindrical bag as she walked out the door, her younger sister staring at the ground as she trailed behind, eyes dull and bored as she contemplated her future.

"O-nee-chan?" The younger of two began tentatively as she shut the front door behind them. This earned her a glance from her sister before said girl looked back into her bag.

"Yes?"

"… Do I… _have to_… become… a… trainer…?" The girl questioned her sister further, voicing her previous wonderings without looking up from the ground. Her older sister paused and turned to face the girl.

"Of coarse silly! Your going to be my successor one day, remember?" The elder responded, raising a quizzical eyebrow, now giving the other girl her full attention; although her hand still hung limply in her bag, waiting to resume her search.

Silence.

"I know it may seem like a daunting task… becoming a trainer and all… but, Sasake-chan, I know you can do it! No worries though, you can take your time" The elder attempted reassure her precious little sister, concern written on her face. "You don't have to leave for ano-"

**_THUD!_**

The two sisters' conversation was cut short as a blur of blonde hair and orange stripes barreled into the older girl's back, knocking her flat on her face.

"Ugh… Taji…" the teen growled into the ground as she slowly sat back up on her knees and massaged her now aching forehead. Unfortunately enough, she had grown accustomed to this painful occurrence over the many years she'd known the boy she just _knew_ had collided with her.

She glanced over at the blonde haired boy now in a crumpled heap beside her; she was clearly annoyed as she proceeded to stare daggers at him. "It's not my fault you were in my way Hikari!" he shouted at the now glaring teen, rubbing his own forehead as he scrambled to his feet. The older of the two dark haired girls, Hikari, got to her feet as well, if a bit slower than the hasty boy. She let out a heavy sigh and started patting the dirt off her pale pink mini-skirt.

Once she deemed herself relatively clean she placed her hands gently on her hips and let a slight smirk spread across her soft features as the boy attempted to catch his breath. All thoughts of her conversation with her sister and the VS. Seeker she had been trying to retrieve from her bag were forgotten at the prospect of a good battle. "Well, are you here to lose again?" she asked, mockery dripping from every word that sprouted from her mouth.

"Humph! Yeah right, I'm not going to waste my time on a weakling like you! I came fo-" the boy, Taji, responded, crossing his arms and looking away from the taunting girl, he was, however, interrupted before he could finish his retort.

"Oh, 'cause you know you'll lose?"

"No! God Hikari! You're so full of yourself!"

"Ha! I am not! You're just jealous! IDIOT!"

"YOU'RE THE IDIOT! ...IDIOT!"

"WHAT?! I'M NOT THE ONE WHO ALWAYS LOSES!"

"I DO NOT ALWAYS LOSE! I'M GOING TO BE THE BEST TRAINER EVER!"

"YEAH RIGHT! YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT ME!"

As the two teens continued their frivolous argument, the younger dark-haired girl, Sasake, stood beside her beloved sister. She was slightly hunched over, blue eyes tired and dull as she listened to her sister and her sister's rival argue on. The thirteen-year-old let out a soft sigh and sat down in the grass while she waited for the fight to fizzle out. Normally her sister didn't act like such a jerk to her rival, let alone even give the blonde a response, but, Sasake knew Hikari was currently on a training binge; the teen only participated in these arguments when she needed a strong opponent. No one else seemed to be able to defeat- or even put up a decent fight against- the scarf-clad girl these days.

Yes, Hikari was heralded as one of the strongest trainers in all of Sinnoh, despite the fact she'd started her journey only three years before. It had taken Hikari only a few months to gather all the region's gym badges and nearly single-handedly defeat the entirety of Team Galactic and the legendary pokemon of time, Dialga. Since that time she had crossed victory road, annihilated the Elite Four and, on her second try, defeated the Champion, Cynthia.

But that was o-nee-chan for you, Sasake mused, and the two of them were completely different people.

As long as the girl could remember, Sasake had been standing in the shadow of her seemingly larger-than-life sister. And in all honesty, Sasake liked things that way. She _enjoyed_ staying in the safe haven that was Twinleaf town, spending her days sprawled out on her bed engrossed in a good book, watching the other children go on with their dreams. The girl wasn't one for excitement really; she _liked_ being left to her own devices.

The only exception to her monotonous lifestyle was her supposed best friend, Shuzo, Taji's thirteen-and-a-half- (he'd never let her forget the 'half' part) year-old brother. Every few days or so he'd nearly plow down the poor girl's door and drag her off on his latest scheme. Sasake often wondered why the boy continued to take her with him; he was the only other person their age that seemed to really enjoy the quiet girl's company. Maybe it was because she would just let him rattle on about what ever he wanted to without interruption?… Was she a good listener? Well, maybe, who really knows what goes on in his hyper-active mind, anyways? She wondered, fingering a strand of her silky black hair.

Sasake was roused from her thoughts when she heard her own name come up in the older teens' argument.

"Ugh! I'm just here to pick up Sasake for Shuzo… will you shut up about the battle already?! I don't have time!" The blonde was yelling. Hikari then sighed in defeat, realizing she wasn't going to get a battle out her rival this time. "Fine… but have her back before dinner time; Mom wants her home…" the older girl responded, glancing over at her sister.

"Huh…?" Sasake muttered, cocking her head slightly to the side, she'd only heard her name through her wonderings and had completely missed the context it was mentioned in. At one glance at the small-framed girl with that confused look on her face, Hikari couldn't keep herself from making a comment. "Aw, you're so cute Sasake-chan!" Hikari stated cheerfully, grinning down at her little sister. Admittedly, Sasake had quite an adorable, innocent kind of way about her, despite her usually quiet demeanor.

"…Come on Sasake, Shuzo keeps yelling his head off at me to come find you… apparently he's too engrossed in his 'plan' to do it himself…" Taji said, clearly relieved that Hikari had given up her taunting.

Sasake simply nodded slightly and slowly got to her feet, wondering what Shuzo could possibly want with her this time…

* * *

Meanwhile… deep inside the Team Galactic Headquarters in Veilstone city, a tall, stern, blue haired man was seated behind a large desk in a _very_ dark office… His hands were clasped together loosely with his elbows propped up on his desk, chin resting on the top of his gruff hands. He was currently busy glaring at the static filled screen on the tall wall in front of him, as if such an action would bully the machine into submission to his will. A few deadly silent moments passed with the quite possibly insane man glaring at the screen in front of him, when, finally, the gloomy static began to shift until the headshot of a very familiar woman with bright red hair appeared on the screen. The man's glare, however, did not dissipate at the woman's appearance.

"Mars. Report." He murmured, his voice harsh and demanding despite the quiet tone.

The woman gulped slightly, but managed to keep her cool and give the man before her a respectful nod before starting her report. "Yes, Cyrus-sama. We should arrive in Floroama town by tomorrow afternoon; I've sent a group of scouts to try and locate Rowan-san, seeing as we were unable to locate him in Sandgem"

The man, Cyrus, nodded curtly and concluded his part of their short meeting with a simple sentence; "I won't tolerate anything less than perfection this time, Mars". He then closed his eyes and proceeded to drift deeper into his own thoughts, Mars nodded, if a bit shakily, "Well, since that Hikari brat'll be out of our hair this time, we shouldn't have any problems" she muttered before terminating the connection, the cold static taking over the screen once more. The man remained unmoving as his thoughts turned to the girl who had nearly destroyed his organization.

Yes, Hikari would soon be out of his way, and with her gone, there was no one to stand in his way. He would finally achieve his dream of a perfect world. _Finally_.

He couldn't help but let a sly smirk carve its way across his demented face at the very thought…

* * *

As Sasake and Taji dawdled off to his house to meet up with Shuzo she couldn't keep her thoughts from drifting off to her conversation with Hikari… Sasake desperately hoped she'd never have to leave her precious home in favor of a pokemon journey… Little did she know that even while she walked off into the lazy afternoon sun, the wheels were already being set in motion to change her life forever… The question is, will it be for better, or for worse?

* * *

**(A/N: *sigh* I'm glad that's over with... _finally. _I hope it wasn't too terrible, the other chapters should be a LOT longer and more detailed, but for now, this was all my inspiration would allow. I hope I got all the suffixes and what not correct, I did a lot of research on it... Anyway, I'm really undecided on where I'm taking this story, especially whether the three main characters will actually team up or just meet randomly like they do in the game... input please?)**


	2. 001: Good Morning, Sasake

**(A/N: Well, I finally managed to get this chapter up... Sorry for the wait, but life interfered with my writing chances, not to mention my muse decided it was the perfect time to take a vacation... Either way, here is the first chapter, enjoy)**

* * *

Platinum Chronicles:

_Chapter One_

Good Morning, Sasake

* * *

She was falling; that was the first thought that registered in Sasake's oddly foggy mind. She could hear the wind whistling in her ears, feel her long hair and baggy pajamas whipping around her small frame as she plummeted, presumably downwards in direction(strangely enough, it was difficult for her to tell just which direction her body _was_ forcefully heading). All her lazy eyes could see above her was the quickly receding clear blue sky, which only replaced itself with more of the odd scenery as she fell through the open abyss. Despite her rather dire situation, Sasake found herself dazedly admiring the strange sort of beauty that seemed to surround her; the puffy white clouds that she wished so deeply to reach out and stroke as they flew past her, and the cavernous expanse of brilliant blue that seemed to keep expanding before her very eyes... But despite all it's beauty, there was an underlying hint something _sinister_ lurking about... an odd feeling that _something _was watching her.

Sasake slowly managed to direct her train of thought towards an apparently much more pressing matter than the scenery and odd vibes she seemed to be receiving; namely, her quickly speed-gathering decent. She could feel her hair now whipping around her face so violently, hear the roar of the wind so loudly, that the combined sensations stung her ears and face.

Yet, she remained perfectly calm.

Even as her muddled mind stumbled over the terrifying fact that soon she would be forcefully brought down to earth; how she'd feel the explosive pain rip through her entire being, how she'd hear the sickening crack of her thin bones as she slammed into the ground, and, how she'd feel her life being stolen from her desperate clutches… She still remained perfectly calm. No panic welled in her chest and spread through her body like wildfire, as she would have expected.

…Well, there wasn't anything she could do, was there…?

She might as well just accept her fate and enjoy the placid calm that was currently coating her mind… _Who knows, maybe it would even be a relief, _the lazy-eyed girl pondered,_ No responsibility… no one counting on me… _the notion seemed so tempting.

Now, Sasake was most certainly _not _suicidal, but something about that strange, hypnotizing, beautiful blue hue that surrounded her on all sides was just… calming. Her thoughts seemed to have spilled from her head and she was left trying reign them in, yet, somehow… she couldn't… All the dark-haired teen seemed to be able to do was bask in the calm bliss as she contemplated, every thought that dared to enter her foggy mind slipping from her grasp just as quickly as it appeared. _What was it…? The theoretical 'calm before the storm'_, she wondered somewhere deep within the recesses of her mind, before that thought too dawdled away from her, never to be seen, or in this case, thought of, again.

It was then that Sasake noticed a very odd, dainty pink ball of light descending upon her. It seemed to glow with some far off radiance as it dipped and bobbed though the cottony clouds. As she squinted her blue eyes and tried figure out just what the light approaching her as she plummeted _was_, she saw two more wink into existence beside it, one a pastel yellow and the other a light and gentle blue. She blinked rapidly, trying to see if they were mearly figments of her befuddled mind. As the girl continued to stare openly at the lights, her mouth slightly agape, the lights themselves began to swirl around her rapidly as she fell, blinking and throbbing all he while. The closer these odd beings approached an other-worldly _mewing_ began echoing throughout the oddly calm world, each sound laced with such disparity that it seemed to unsettle the very essence of her core. Sasake continued to stare like a gaping fish, her hands visibly shaking with an odd emotion the girl couldn't quite identify, until a thought hit her frail mentality like a ton of bricks_- they're trying to tell me something!_

Sasake wasn't sure exactly _why_ she cared what these 'lights' had to tell her, but then, she didn't really understand _anything_ through the the misty veil that had suddenly been cast over her mind. And so it was on pure instinct that she opened her consciousness and focused as hard as she could on understanding the strange beings before her. As she did this, the three lights began to pulse brighter, their gentle colors brightening and their size growing and swelling. They began closing in on her, like brightly lit walls. She felt as though she was beginning to understand their strange chanting, she couldn't quite place her finger on it, but she _knew_ they were talking to her. Just as she was about to form the words, the connection was shattered.

Bright blue eyes widened marginally as she picked up a muffled shout. "What was that…" she mumbled vaguely, barely able to form the words on her somehow stiff lips, let alone hear her quiet voice over the roaring wind and desperate screaming now being emitted from her light messengers. With the second shout, Sasake somehow could tell the unidentifiable- yet somehow familiar- voice was shouting someone's name… but whose was it? _It seems so familiar…_ Yet again her thoughts were ripped from her as another shout sounded through her once placid world and caused tremors to make their way through the air like thin bolts of lightning. The swirling lights froze, their pulsing almost immeadiately coming to a halt as their screeching heightened.

_…Wait, an earthquake? Aren't I in the sky? How is that possible? _Her quickly clearing mind began shouting as she desperately clawed at her ears in an attempt to stop the terrible screaming. All logic was soon thrown out the proverbial window, however, as tiles- yes _tiles_- of the pastel blue sky began to chip off and tumble around her still plummeting body. The lights slowly flickered into oblivion one by one as the chaos around her worsened. As shout after incomprehensible shout sounded off things got more and more hectic as the world began to crumble around the now frightened girl. During the confusion Sasake began to panic, flailing her limbs about in a desperate attempt to fend off the falling tiles.

**_THUMP!_**

The sound reverberated through the dream-like world and everything froze momentarily before abruptly fading to black, as though someone had had snuffed out a candle.

* * *

The girl suddenly bolted upright, frantically flailing her dark head around as reality crashed back into her consciousness. "Dream…?" she muttered hoarsely as her frantic mind began to calm and she realized she was no longer being attacked by tiles of blue sky, but was safely sitting atop her now extremely disheveled bed. Sasake could now clearly make out her mother shouting her name somewhere down the hall from her room, but she heard no more of the strange thumping sound. Wondering just _what_ was going on the teen struggled to release herself from the sheets that had tightly woven themselves around her legs and torso during the night.

Successfully detangling herself from her messy bed linens, Sasake began to groggily make her way across the carpet flooring that led up to her bedroom door. The sleepy blue eyed girl called out a quiet "Yes, Mother?" at her mother's insistent yelling and began rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Oh, how much larger her room seemed when she wanted to traverse it.

Sasake's foot clumsily came down upon something thin and soft; she paused slightly, muttering a quick "Hmm…?" before she was wrenched from her slow train of thought by the all to familiar 'thump!' sounding off somewhere behind her. Purely on instinct, Sasake _attempted _to whirl around, but, as her toes gripped onto the soft fabric underneath them the said fabric twisted and slid out from under her less than graceful movement and she was sent tumbling to the ground in a messy heap.

Sasake vaguely realized her throbbing forehead was now resting on her dark blue comforter- which had somehow managed sprawl itself across her floor at some point during the night- before she let out a muffled sigh and scrambled to her feet.

"Smooth!"

Sasake straightened slightly as she heard her sister's sing-song voice. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder and, sure enough, their stood a slightly amused looking Hikari, already fully dressed and leaning up against her doorframe. Sasake blinked rapidly. _When did she get here..._ Hikari jabbed her thumb over to point at something behind Sasake's back, smirking all the while.

Sasake obediently stumbled over in the direction her sister had indicated, noting that it was the general direction the strange 'thump!' had come from, and found herself face-to-pane with the small window that looked over her front yard, an incriminating amount of mid-spring slush clinging unnaturally to the glass window. The teen fumbled with the latch before throwing the window open and poking her head out into the cool spring morning.

The site that met her already confused mind only proceeded to confuse the poor girl even further, for, just a few feet away from her, on the ground, of coarse, was a very familiar green scarf-clad boy, hunched over and preparing another snow- or, rather _slush_- ball as he glared at the ground.

"Shuzo…?" she muttered, yawing slightly. This mumbled phrase somehow seemed to catch the blonde's attention as he looked up at the window. "Oh, Sasake, you're up! FINALLY!" he all but yelled up at the bleary eyed girl as he dropped the carefully concocted 'slush' ball.

* * *

Hikari chuckled lightly at the scene before her for a moment, she then pushed off the door frame and swept out of the room to go and calm the two girls' still shouting mother, who Sasake seemed to have forgotten about.

The eighteen-year-old Hikari cheerily made her way down the small flight of stairs, only to be met with a very exasperated shout of, "SASAKEEEEEEE! Get your lazy butt out of bed and stop that CRAZY kid!". Hikari made her presence known with a light cough before entering into the living room, where her very irritated mother sat before the TV screen, gripping a steaming coffee cup as though her very life depended on it. The middle-aged woman looked over her shoulder, only to see her eldest daughter quickly striding towards her. "She's up now." Hikari stated happily as she flopped down on the small couch next to her mother, whom seemed to relax a bit at the news. "I just can't believe you were so bent on watching this contest that you wouldn't even open the door…" Hikari stifled a childish giggle as she stared at her obsessing mother, whose eyes never left the apparently riveting contest taking place all the way over in Hearthome city. "Humph… you know _you _could have opened the door when the poor boy knocked too." the women muttered half-heartedly, her bad mood slowly evaporating as she took another sip from her stained mug. With a slightly unnerving mischievous smile plastered on her pretty features Hikari made a very matter-of-fact reply; "I just wanted to see what he'd do" she stated with a slight shrug coupled with a knowing nod. The dark-haired woman gave her daughter a swift look that clearly said she thought Hikari insane before gluing her eyes back to the TV set. Hikari huffed slightly before jumping up from the couch and skipping off to the kitchen to retrieve some much needed morning sustenance.

_She's certainly in a good mood this morning…_ the middle-aged woman noted, curious as to why her daughter was so down right _giddy_ this morning. But, she figured her official inquiry on the subject could wait to be answered until _after_ the contest had ended.

* * *

"Why…?" a very confused Sasake manage to spit out as she massaged her aching forehead. The boy only gave her an annoyed look, he never seemed to get it through his head that, despite her usual fair amount of intelligence, the girl in question tended to be quite slow in the mornings. "Well, no one would answer the door! Besides… I was afraid a rock might break your window…" Shuzo trailed off, his tone full of exasperation. Sasake blew a dark strand from her face and glanced over at the clock that hung high up on her plain wall. _Why is Shuzo here again…?_ She wondered blankly.

_"So! What do 'ya think? Best plan ever, right?" The eager boy questioned excitedly, bright eyes alight with confidence in his latest scheme. "... It is a _legendary_... how-". Clearly anticipating his friend's skepticism the blonde shot the gloomy girl positioned on the edge of his bed an annoyed glance. "What? You don't think we can catch it?" he asked pointedly as he swiveled his desk chair to face away from Sasake as the poor teen attempted to convince him she had meant otherwise. As he continued to give her the cold shoulder, Sasake stayed silent, fervently wishing she wasn't being pulled into another one of Shuzo's schemes. Sasake knew all to well she couldn't escape this situation; Shuzo would surely bug her everyday for the rest of her life if he had to. Letting out a soft sigh of resignation the dark-haired teen let her world-weary gaze drift up to the back of Shuzo's head. With the ever predictable contact of bare feet on carpet the impatient boy spun the chair back around so he could face his friend._

_"Usual time..."_

_"Of coarse. 11 o' clock sharp."_

"Ah…" she sighed as the memory of the day before came back to her, only to let out another one moments later as she noticed the time her clock was revealing. It was 9:26am on the dot. "Typical" Sasake grumbled, she knew she should have expected this from Shuzo, he was _always_ too early for her liking.

"_Well_? Are you coming?" Shuzo's nagging voice broke through her reverie and she turned her attention back to the boy standing in her yard, his arms crossed and foot tapping none to softly on the damp sod. Sasake nodded slightly and made to close her window, but paused when her train of thought was once again brought to a screeching halt, "Don't forgot! If you're not out in ten minutes I'm fining you a 'million!" he shouted before turning his back to the tired girl and taking off full speed towards Lake Verity. Sasake hurriedly closed the window and relocked the latches before scuttling off to her closet, seeing as she _was _still in her pajamas, and everyone in the small town knew that when Shuzo said 'ten' minutes it was more likely he meant half that.

* * *

"Mm!" Hikari exclaimed as she popped a deep blue berry into her mouth. The dark-haired teen was currently bent over with her elbows propped up on the kitchen counter, one hand resting comfortably under her chin while the other rummaged through the bowl placed in front of her. Hikari was watching the TV screen over her Mother's shoulder, who was sitting in front of the coffee table on the other side of the bar Hikari was now perched at. "Hey, Mom?" the teen began, leisurely popping another berry into her mouth.

No response.

"Mom?"

Nothing.

"Mom!"

Silence sure was aggravating…

"MOM?" The teen yelled, now glaring at the back of her Mother's dark head.

"What!" The middle-aged woman spat, not bothering to glance back at her daughter. Hikari huffed slightly, "Sheesh, I was just gonna tell you I'm heading out for a bit of training…" the girl responded, straightening up as her glare wavered. "Be back before dinner." was the only mumbled reply Hikari received before her Mother went back to her precious contest. Pouting slightly, Hikari retrieved a roll of foil from a drawer to her left, messily wrapped a thin piece over the remaining berries and shoved the bowl into the stainless steel fridge said Mother was so very proud of. She stepped lightly out of the kitchen, proceeding to carefully pack her bag in preparation before stepping out the heavy oak front door as she hummed a happy tune into the beautifully chilly new day.

* * *

The shadowy haired girl didn't bother to take in the still, crisp morning air around her as she sped through the sparsely populated town. She attempted to ignore the chilly air that was seeping in through her traitorous jacket as she jogged towards the edge of the small town, _and_ Lake Verity. Her attempt became futile, though, when a small shiver crept it's way upon the teen's small form. Vaguely, Sasake noted it was oddly cool in Twinleaf town this morning. Letting out a slight sigh, Sasake pulled her thin jacket closer around her body and paused only to give a slight, polite nod to any passing villager that had decided to greet her on the cool morning.

* * *

The young blonde impatiently tugged at his green scarf as he glared pointedly at the path before him. He was sitting with his back propped up against the small, but steep cliff that lay just outside of his small hometown and followed along the path that led to the famous Lake Verity.

Oh, how Shuzo absolutely _loathed _waiting.

Yet, here he was, _waiting_. And waiting. And _still_, more waiting.

Just as he felt he was going to develop a very annoying tick, he noticed a black and navy blue blob enter into the edge of his vision. He almost immediately recognized it as his sweatshirt-clad friend. He seemed to perk up slightly, but his glare did not diminish in the slightest as he hurriedly got to his feet and awaited her arrival, tapping his foot lightly to signify his annoyance at the girl's lateness.

A few agonizing minutes later the teen slowed her pace and came to a stop a mere two feet away from the impatient blonde boy. She placed her hands on her knees and rose her dark gaze to meet his amber glare through her messy black bangs. Panting heavily Sasake murmured a quick apology before diverting her gaze back to the ground.

Shuzo's features remained unchanged for a few short moments as his female friend caught her breath and slowly drew herself back up and let her hands slack back to rest at her sides, her breathing now evening out. As Sasake calmed his gaze softened into a look of mischief and a slight smirk spread across his lips as he shoved an open palm in front of her still downward-directed gaze.

"You do realize you're gonna have to pay the fine now, right?"

Sasake looked up from the ground long enough to give an exasperated look, her brows furrowed, before shaking her head lightly and dragging her gaze up the path that led to their destination, a subtle reminder of the reason he had bothered to drag her out of her warm bed in the first place. He rarely actually attempted to collect his 'fines', but yet here he was, asking the girl for an extravagant amount of money he _knew_ she didn't posses. From past experiences, Sasake knew he was bound to keep bothering her about the trivial matter all day, despite the fact that, considering they were not originally even suppose to meet for another hour, she was not technically late.

Shuzo's mischievous look slowly faded into a more contented smile, although a small spark of annoyance still danced around in his eyes as he gripped his childhood friend's wrist and began dragging the poor girl along the dirt path that separated he and his self-proclaimed destiny.

"Guess you can pay up later… We have a pokemon to catch!"

* * *

**(A/N: Well, that's it. I know not a whole lot happened, but I wanted to focus more on the characters in this chapter. Not to worry, things will start picking up in the next chapter, though. Now... onto reviews... I've seen many people answer them inside the Author's Note, so I suppose I should too? Correct me if I'm going about this wrong...**

**'randomperson': Thanks! I'm glad you liked the siblings idea. As far as pairings are concerned, I really haven't planned any, I'm not really a romance writer.**

**'Anon': Yes, I actually do plan on hinting at what happened during Hikari's journey(AKA DP), and there are quite a few differences from game cannon and her journey. I'm really sorry for all the confusion with the japanese names and what not. I think I'd been watching _way_**** too much anime when I wrote the prologue. You may have noticed there were no japanese words/suffixes in this chapter, I decided to take all of that out completely, and I plan to edit it all out of the prologue as soon as I have the time. As for the names, Hikari is actually the only _official_**** japanese name I knew from pokemon, and when I got my Diamond game I was at a loss as to what to name the character and just decided on Hikari... Again, sorry about the confusion. Ah, thanks for pointing that out. I really wasn't sure _what _to put down as the characters, I'll be sure to change that. The sister? Yes, I actually do have a plan in mind for her.**

**Raven Wolfcall: Thanks!**

**And that about wraps it up, I will try to get the next chapter up soon.)**


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